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A comment on JD Salinger's unseen writings to be published, family confirms. Parent comment

Re:JD Salinger's unseen writings to be published, family con... by oh_sigh on Monday February 04, 2019 @05:06PM (#19081107)
He should have put in his will and testament that all unfinished drafts should be destroyed. I don't believe it is possible to will property to people but put indefinite restrictions on legal usage of the property. I forget the exact term, but the restriction was put in place so that you don't get into a situation where estates are confined to operate in the manner that a long-dead great-great-great-great grandfather specified in their will, in contravention of the wishes of the current property owners who may have not even been alive when the will was written.
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Re:JD Salinger's unseen writings to be published, family con... by bloak on Tuesday February 05, 2019 @04:32AM (#19083960)
Perhaps you're thinking of "mortmain", a nice English/French word:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortmain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_against_perpetuities

There's also the expression "dead hand", but that may also refer to a Soviet strategic defence system, which has also been referred to as "hand from coffin", which is certainly more fun than the official name.

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